The increasing number of media devices including cellular phones, laptops, personal digital assistants, text message machines, wireless gaming machines, music players, etc. has increased the need to measure their use for various purposes. For example, measuring a user's interaction with a media device provides visibility of the types of services and applications that may interest a user. Similarly, measuring the performance and usage of a media device enables manufacturers, wireless service providers, content providers, marketers, etc. to improve and market future products and services.
In addition to media device usage information, marketers and device manufacturers are interested in the demographic information and the geographic information associated with purchased media devices. Marketers may use the information to analyze different demographic components to predict demand for future products and services. For example, a company that manufactures and sells a cellular phone may sell applications for that cellular phone on the company website. By knowing the locations where the cellular phones are typically used and the typical demographics of users of the cell phones, the company can directly target potential customers who are more likely to purchase cell phone applications from the company. Targeted marketing may include direct mailings, text messages to likely customers, and/or media advertisements in concentrated locations of potential customers.
Currently, marketers and device manufactures use labor intensive methods to determine demographic information and geographic information associated with media devices. These methods may include questioning focus groups, tracking individual customers, and/or random sampling and questioning of people. Alternatively, many products include registration cards with links to the manufacturer's website for customers to register their recently purchased product, their geographic information, and their demographic information. However, the labor intensive methods and product registration methods tend to yield marginal results because a very small percentage of customers may actually register their products, and/or random sampling may include hidden biases. As the competition between media device manufactures increases, the difference between a successful product and a marginally successful product may be determined by the accuracy of marketing data and the ability of a manufacturer to design a media device more aligned to what the target market desires.